Yatesville can’t give OK to coin-drop

YATESVILLE – Borough officials were advised Wednesday they could not act on a request for permission to hold a coin-drop fundraiser on Stout Street, in part because they did not have the authority.

The request from the Pittston Area Music Boosters was for a drop on a state road, which was not within the borough’s authority to grant. According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, the request would need not only police approval, but also the stationing of a police officer with the group during the fundraiser.

Other coin-drop fundraisers had taken place in the borough, but the organizers had not formally made a request for permission, council noted.

Because most coin-drops, or boot drives, generally did not have police supervision, they could effectively be considered illegal, solicitor Sam Falcone confirmed.

Giving approval also constituted an acceptance of some liability if anything happened during the coin-drop event, council noted.

In other business, council agreed to look into sealing the borough’s walking track because the surface was beginning to show some cracking. As the work was not expected to cost more than $4,000, it would be possible to award the work to whoever gave the lowest quote for the job without calling a special meeting.

Council also was advised that no information about the project to resolve flooding on the unnamed creek had been forthcoming from the state, but Falcone noted the borough would likely have to resolve some of the easement issues through eminent domain.

In that case, the borough would set aside in an escrow account an amount agreed to by an assessor for each piece of land and move on with the development work that should control flooding from the creek.